What's your starting lineup? seems like Bron/Vando/Rui end up being interchangeable somewhat, but with AD looking jealously at whoever is playing the 4. Doesn't feel like a perfect fit for some reason. Are you saying Rui off the bench?
yes, rui off the bench. he can still get his 28mpg there. vando can start halves and still have his minutes closer to 20. if our 1-3 are going to be lebron/reaves/dlo, AD and vando will have to be busy to keep us from falling in holes against good offenses.
This is also my preferred scenario, at least before having seen how all the guys look this year. We have a LOT of offensive firepower in the starting 5 with LBJ, AD, AR and DAR already, but we could use another good defender in there. At the same time, Rui's presence could provide some instant offense from the bench. I would probably still play Rui more minutes overall than Vando, but this is really matchup dependent. If we're playing the likes og Luka, KD, Kawhi etc., I'd give Vando basically the entire time these guys are also on the floor. If the opposing team doesn't have a great offensive threat on the wing, give more time to Rui. Rui would still be on my death lineup and closing most of the games though. Hopefully Vando has developed at least a respectable three point shot in the off season...
i'm not holding my breath on vando's offense. i expect it will improve incrementally, but he's not going to become a new guy offensively overnight. i agree on closing games with rui more commonly. i think you can get mediocre defenders to clamp down a bit for a minute (and you can situationally sub). i just like how vando sets a tone of aggression and accountability.
I like pairing Vando with DLO and Rui with Vincent. If DLO is starting, I agree Vando should start as well. If there is a way to start Vando but stagger the minutes so that he also tends to be on the court when Wood is playing as well, that would be ideal for me.
Yeah, I'm with all of you. Also good to build on last year to hit the ground running. Until injuries, there's no excuse not to be in top 2 in the Conference, that's where we belong. I would start Dlo, Reaves, Vando, LeBron, AD. But we have so many freaking options. We can throw multiple combinations of lineups through a game. More than we can play. We can have guys with a DNP one game and 20mpg the other without noticing it. We can adapt the rotation to every opponent, situation, calendar stretch throughout the year. We have to balance it with enough continuation to the core group so they can respond well in a game that gets tougher or we need something extra to get that road W. I wouldn't mind sitting Hayes, Max and Reddish at the start and then incrementally open the rotation as the games start to pile and you need more legs. Start strong with a 8-2 to build some momentum and then start bringing those guys
